


Yearning

by RedLlamas



Series: On the Road [3]
Category: The Rover (2014)
Genre: Beards (Facial Hair), First Kiss, Gentle Kissing, M/M, Mornings, Motels, Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed, Tenderness, named Eric's wife Belinda, playing with hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLlamas/pseuds/RedLlamas
Summary: Eric and Rey stop at a motel on the road, and the next day Eric checks on Rey's wounds.
Relationships: Eric/Reynolds
Series: On the Road [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764655
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Yearning

Eric’s been driving them somewhere. Rey thinks that he might be lost, but he’s not one to talk. The outback is different from the fields.

It’s been about two weeks since Carloon. There’s been few towns between here and then. It’s dark, and they should stop. Eric’s been blinking more these past minutes.

“Look,” Rey says, pointing to a flickering sign that reads “MILKY WAY Motel”.

“Okay,” Eric relents. He drives them over, slowing down to park.

They get out, and Rey follows Eric to the lady running the joint.

Room 4.

Inside there’s two beds, a nightstand on either side. A desk. Two chairs. Some books. Rey picks one up, reads its title.

“ _ The Virginian _ .”

Eric opts to claim a bed for himself, the one closest to the door. Rey watches him sit down, sees how his shoulders slope down. He reached down to untie his shoes, shove them aside, and finally lay down. He groaned, and pinched his face in pain.

His body was taut, as if it’s been too long since he laid down in a real bed. Rey sets the book down, and goes over to turn the lights off. He walks over to the other bed, takes off his own shoes and lays down. He taps his fingers on his chest, looks over to Eric. He’d turned on his side, and now Rey can see his back.

Rey slid out of his bed, and into Eric’s. He lay on his side, and thought about whether or not he should touch Eric.

He slid an arm around him.

Eric woke up with an arm curled up to his chest. He looked at it, brought his hand up to cover it, run his thumb over Rey’s knuckles. He thinks about how Belinda’s hands felt, and is overcome with the sudden impulse to bring his hand up to kiss.

He sits up instead. Rey’s hand falls back onto the bed, and he rouses awake, looking at Eric with squinty eyes and ruffled hair. He leans back, stretching his arms.

This is… domestic. Like they’ve always done this. Eric’s lips want to know what Rey’s hands feel like.

“Let me check your wounds.”

Rey nods, laying back against the pillow. He pulls his shirt up to expose his stomach. Eric scooted closer, leaning over him. He lightly touched the skin, felt it warm like his hand. It was scarring well.

“Your neck now.”

Rey let his shirt go to lean his head to the side. Eric straddled him to see his neck better. He reached to pull down the cloth and bandages down enough for him to look at the wound. It was red, evident of a lack of cleaning. He touched the skin, felt it hot. The bleeding had stopped for the most part, the wound clotting up. They should probably clean this.

“We should probably clean this,” he says as he pulls the cloth and bandages back in place. Once finished, he looks at Rey, who’s still got his head to the side. He slowly turns to look at him straight-on, though, and then they’re just looking at each other.

Eric thinks about how the sunlight filtering in through the curtains gave Rey’s green eyes a golden edge. He wonders what Rey sees in his eyes.

He startled out of his reverie when he feels Rey’s hand gently touch his cheek. He feels a chill run down his spine, uncertain about the touch, but Rey’s eyes are on his mouth now. He softly grazes his beard, getting a feel for it. He brings his other hand up to scratch at his beard, a smile spreading on his lips.

Seeing him like this made Eric softly smile. He felt his heart burst with something, but he doesn’t want to name it.

Rey brings his hands to run them through Eric’s hair, and Eric leans down so that he can play with his hair some more. He holds himself up on his elbows, and they’re suddenly so close.

Rey brings his hand down to cup Eric’s cheek, and Eric looks back up at him. So close. Rey still has that dreamy morning look in his eyes.

He looks at his lips. He’s got some stubble that’ll be sure to grow into his own beard.

Eric presses his lips against Rey’s gently, chastely. When he pulls back, Rey’s got his eyes closed, clearly gone. When he opens his eyes, he’s got a certain glint in his eyes, like he’s discovered a secret.

Eric feels his heart race. And as he kisses Rey again, feeling Rey wrap his arms around him, he lets himself finally name this.

He’s been yearning, for simple touches, for mornings with kisses, for someone to care for him and to do things for him.

He’s been yearning for Rey this entire time.

Rey giggles when they break apart, cheeks dusted with pink, and Eric just looks at him with something like adoration in his eyes.


End file.
